By John Huggan
CARNOUSTIE, Scotland — Not quite one year on from what was surely the most unlikely—and heartwarming—tale in professional golf in 2020, Sophia Popov is back to defend the Women’s Open title she won so memorably at Royal Troon last October. Things are a bit different now, of course, both geographically and psychologically. The west coast of Scotland is now the east, the rugged links of Carnoustie the venue for the 28-year old’s title defense. And the previously unheralded German arrives in Angus not as an all-but complete unknown ranked 304th in the world, but as the highest-ranked (28th) European golfer on the planet.

Not everything is different though.

“Playing my practice round today, I was feeling a lot of the same emotions I had last year,” she says. “It’s just so exciting to be back playing some links golf and enjoying the venue because it is so special. Plus, I have a lot of memories from having played here in 2011 as an amateur. I’m just enjoying myself being out there, which is very similar to last year. Back then, I didn’t know what was going to happen on Sunday. And I don’t know this year either.”

Somewhat ironically, Popov is actually in danger of being too well known this week. Her smiling countenance adorns posters dotting the premises and videos running on a continuous loop in the clubhouse have already drawn many good-natured comments from her fellow pros.

“You only realise it once you get on-site and you see your face everywhere,” she said. “And you think, oh, my God, it’s been a year now and this is the event that changed so much for me. I think everyone is fed up of seeing me, to be honest. But it’s really funny because when everyone comes by they call me ‘defending champ.’ Normally I’m way too humble of a person to even identify with something like that, but I know this week I can. So I’m just taking it all in. I’m like, ‘Yep, I’m defending.’ So I’m getting better at just accepting that and being all cool about it.”

All of which is a long way from the 54-hole Cactus Tour events that were Popov’s home in the middle of last year, a time when she was reduced to caddying for close friend Anne Van Damm only weeks before Troon came along and changed her life. Since then, however, Popov has proved that her maiden LPGA victory was no fluke. Her elevated world ranking is evidence enough of a string of high finishes that have guaranteed her a place on the European Solheim Cup team that will be finalized and announced on Sunday evening.

To that end, Popov has been in regular contact with Solheim skipper Catriona Matthew. No bad thing. The Scot’s routinely calm demeanour is a soothing influence on one inclined to excitement when the subject of the biennial contest with the United States is mentioned.

“A lot of times, I mentally get ahead of myself a little bit, just really looking forward to that week,” admits Popov. “But I’m proud of how I have backed up my win here last year with some other finishes to make the team. I did that pretty well throughout the end of last season and the beginning of this season. Now I fully grasp the idea that I really belong on that team. So I can really enjoy it and look forward to it.”

Richard Heathcote/R&A
An emotional Popov walks to collect her trophy after winning at Troon last year.

As for the state of her game right now, Popov arrives on the back of a missed cut in last week’s Women’s Scottish Open at Dumbarnie Links. Which is not to say she is not harbouring positive vibes about what lies ahead.

“My game is actually in a better spot than I think it is,” she says. “A few weeks ago I was playing so much I got tired and mistakes were creeping in. Every week seemed to be really long and gruelling. So I’ve been trying to keep everything simple. I tend to over-complicate things for myself by trying to be the perfect ball-striker that I think I can be. But that’s just not necessary around here. You just have to pick good targets and miss the ball in the right spots. My practice rounds have been good. So it’s about keeping my head in the game and making sure I stay focused, especially on some of the tougher shots.”

Of course, if all else fails, she can always think about last year.

The post Sophia Popov returns to the Women’s Open as a confident defending champ and Solheim Cup lock appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

As was the case with the men’s Olympic competition, International Golf Federation officials have appropriately given the honour of hitting the opening tee shot of the 2021 Olympic women’s golf tournament to a native of the host country.

Japan’s Mone Inami will be the first player off when the women’s event begins on Wednesday at Kasumigaseki Country Club at 7:30 a.m. local time (6:30 p.m. eastern time Wednesday in the U.S.). Inami will be playing in the threesome with Maria Fassi of Mexico and Albane Valenzuela of Switzerland. (Side note: You might recall that Sepp Straka was in the opening pairing of the men’s tournament and shot a 63 to take the early lead last week.)

There are several interesting pairings to follow, most notably the threesome of Inbee Park, Lydia Ko and Shanshan Feng that tees off on Day 1 at 7:25 p.m. Tuesday night U.S. time. The trio from South Korea, New Zealand and China won gold, silver and bronze at the 2016 Rio Games.

As for the four Americans competing in the women’s event, World No. 1 Nelly Korda tees off at 7:14 p.m. Wednesday night U.S. time (paired with Nasa Hataoka and Jin Young Ko), with Lexi Thompson following her at 7:25 p.m. (with Brooke Henderson and U.S. Women’s Open champ Yuka Saso). Jessica Korda tees off at 9:03 p.m. and Danielle Kang has a 9:36 p.m. tee time.

ANA Inspiration winner Patty Tavatanakit of Thailand and Amundi Evian Championship winner Minjee Lee of Australia are paired together along with 2020 AIG Women’s British Open winner Sophia Popov. They tee off at 9:14 p.m. Tuesday in the U.S.

Here are all the first and second round tee times at Kasumigaseki Country Club:

ROUND 1
First Tee

7:30 a.m./6:30 p.m.
Mone INAMI, Japan
Maria FASSI, Mexico
Albane VALENZUELA, Switzerland

7:41 a.m./6:41 p.m.
Kelly TAN, Malaysia
Alena SHARP, Canada
Anne VAN DAM, The Netherlands

7:52 a.m./6:52 p.m.
Leona MAGUIRE, Ireland
Bianca PAGDANGANAN, Philippines
Matilda CASTREN, Finland

8:03 a.m./7:03 p.m.
Mel REID, Great Britain
Caroline MASSON, Germany
Anna NORDQVIST, Sweden

8:14 a.m./7:14 p.m.
Nasa HATAOKA, Japan
Jin Young KO, South Korea
Nelly KORDA, USA

8:25 a.m./7:25 p.m.
Brooke HENDERSON, Canada
Lexi THOMPSON, USA
Yuka SASO, Philippines

8:41 a.m./7:41 p.m.
Inbee PARK, South Korea
Lydia KO, New Zealand
Shanshan FENG, China

8:52 a.m./7:52 p.m.
Sanna NUUTINEN, Finland
Maria TORRES, Puerto Rico
Tiffany CHAN, Hong Kong

9:03 a.m./8:03 p.m.
Klara SPILKOVA, Czech Republic
Manon DE ROEY, Belgium
Christine WOLF, Austria

9:14 a.m./8:14 p.m.
Maha HADDIOUI, Morocco
Lucrezia COLOMBOTTO ROSSO, Italy
Daniela DARQUEA, Ecuador

9:25 a.m./8:25 p.m.
Nanna KOERSTZ MADSEN, Denmark
Aditi ASHOK, India
Giulia MOLINARO, Italy

9:36 a.m./8:36 p.m.
Wei-Ling HSU, Chinese Taipei
Azahara MUNOZ, Spain
Jodi EWART SHADOFF, Great Britain

9:47 a.m./8:47 p.m.
Xiyu LIN, China
Emily Kristine PEDERSEN, Denmark
Madelene SAGSTROM, Sweden

10:03 a.m./9:03 p.m.
Jessica KORDA, USA
Celine BOUTIER, France
Gaby LOPEZ, Mexico Gaby Mexico

10:14 a.m./9:14 p.m.
Minjee LEE, Australia
Patty TAVATANAKIT, Thailand
Sophia POPOV, Germany

10:25 a.m./9:25 p.m.
Ariya JUTANUGARN, Thailand
Hyojoo KIM, South Korea
Carlota CIGANDA, Spain

10:36 a.m./9:36 p.m.
Danielle KANG, USA
Hannah GREEN, Australia
Sei Young KIM, South Korea

10:47 a.m./9:47 p.m.
Min LEE, Chinese Taipei
Stephanie MEADOW, Ireland
Perrine DELACOUR, France

10:58 a.m./9:58 p.m.
Mariajo URIBE, Colombia
Pia BABNIK, Slovenia
Magdalena SIMMERMACHER, Argentina

11:09 a.m./10:09 p.m.
Diksha DAGAR, India
Kim METRAUX, Switzerland
Tonje DAFFINRUD, Norway

ROUND 2
First Tee

7:30 a.m./6:30 p.m.
Nanna KOERSTZ MADSEN, Denmark
Aditi ASHOK, India
Giulia MOLINARO, Italy

7:41 a.m./6:41 p.m.
Wei-Ling HSU, Chinese Taipei
Azahara MUNOZ, Spain
Jodi EWART SHADOFF, Great Britain

7:52 a.m./6:52 p.m.
Xiyu LIN, China
Emily Kristine PEDERSEN, Denmark
Madelene SAGSTROM, Sweden

8:03 a.m./7:03 p.m.
Jessica KORDA, USA
Celine BOUTIER, France
Gaby LOPEZ, Mexico Gaby Mexico

8:14 a.m./7:14 p.m.
Minjee LEE, Australia
Patty TAVATANAKIT, Thailand
Sophia POPOV, Germany

8:25 a.m./7:25 p.m.
Ariya JUTANUGARN, Thailand
Hyojoo KIM, South Korea
Carlota CIGANDA, Spain

8:41 a.m./7:41 p.m.
Danielle KANG, USA
Hannah GREEN, Australia
Sei Young KIM, South Korea

8:52 a.m./7:52 p.m.
Min LEE, Chinese Taipei
Stephanie MEADOW, Ireland
Perrine DELACOUR, France

9:03 a.m./8:03 p.m.
Mariajo URIBE, Colombia
Pia BABNIK, Slovenia
Magdalena SIMMERMACHER, Argentina

9:14 a.m./8:14 p.m.
Diksha DAGAR, India
Kim METRAUX, Switzerland
Tonje DAFFINRUD, Norway

9:25 a.m./8:25 p.m.
Mone INAMI, Japan
Maria FASSI, Mexico
Albane VALENZUELA, Switzerland

9:36 a.m./8:36 p.m.
Kelly TAN, Malaysia
Alena SHARP, Canada
Anne VAN DAM, The Netherlands

9:47 a.m./8:47 p.m.
Leona MAGUIRE, Ireland
Bianca PAGDANGANAN, Philippines
Matilda CASTREN, Finland

10:03 a.m./9:03 p.m.
Mel REID, Great Britain
Caroline MASSON, Germany
Anna NORDQVIST, Sweden

10:14 a.m./9:14 p.m.
Nasa HATAOKA, Japan
Jin Young KO, South Korea
Nelly KORDA, USA

10:25 a.m./9:25 p.m.
Brooke HENDERSON, Canada
Lexi THOMPSON, USA
Yuka SASO, Philippines

10:36 a.m./9:36 p.m.
Inbee PARK, South Korea
Lydia KO, New Zealand
Shanshan FENG, China

10:47 a.m./9:47 p.m.
Sanna NUUTINEN, Finland
Maria TORRES, Puerto Rico
Tiffany CHAN, Hong Kong

10:58 a.m./9:58 p.m.
Klara SPILKOVA, Czech Republic
Manon DE ROEY, Belgium
Christine WOLF, Austria

11:09 a.m./10:09 p.m.
Maha HADDIOUI, Morocco
Lucrezia COLOMBOTTO ROSSO, Italy
Daniela DARQUEA, Ecuador

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By Kent Paisley
Eleven months ago, the LPGA Tour returned to northwest Ohio in its first steps back from the COVID-19 schedule break. It created the LPGA Drive On Championship at Inverness Club in Toledo, and then played the Marathon LPGA Classic in Sylvania. As the tour makes its first trip back to the Marathon since returning to play, it provided a mirror for players to reflect on the coronavirus era and how far they’ve come over the last year.

“I don’t know how many [COVID-19] tests we’ve done by now,” Sophia Popov said at her press conference Wednesday. “I just think we’re lucky enough to have been able to continue playing last year with everything that was going on, so I think we’re all just very grateful for that opportunity.”

The LPGA bubble developed to ensure the safety of everyone involved with the tour included everything from rules guiding where players could eat to when they needed to take COVID-19 tests. There were unforeseen issues, of course.

So Yeon Ryu delayed her return from South Korea to the United States until December because of the pandemic, and she needed to study up on what the protocols were before coming back to play. “(I) felt like I just became a rookie all of a sudden,” Ryu said. She pushed through with reading books and watching Netflix, a common theme with the additional hotel room downtime over the last year.

Stacy Lewis, who won for the first time as a mom at the 2020 Ladies Scottish Open last August, faced her own challenges of corralling her 2-year-old daughter Chesnee throughout the bubble. Lewis explained Chesnee would ask to eat inside at restaurants, but she had to tell her that they couldn’t. “We started going to the park and eating at the park,” Lewis said Wednesday. “It has picnic tables. You get creative, and we got through it, but I’m glad we’re on the other side of it.”

Getting creative was a requirement for pushing through the strictest bubble the LPGA had—during its opening Asia swing this year. The tour’s policy of only allowing travel to and from the hotel to the course—necessary for the LPGA to return after missing the fall Asia swing in 2020—made socializing and getting away from the game challenging. “[The bubble in Asia] made you think about golf way too much,” Popov said. “That’s been the hardest part of it, relying on yourself and try to find ways to entertain yourself for six, seven hours before you go to bed.”

Sam Greenwood
Danielle Kang plays a shot on the seventh hole during the final round of the 2021 Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions.

Defending Marathon Classic champion Danielle Kang’s lowest moments over the last year also came during the isolation from the tour’s stops in Singapore and Thailand. “Asia was tough for me this year because I’m very needy,” Kang said. “I need people around me, and I bother a lot of people. I call my agent for an hour if I need to. I don’t know, I like having people around me. Not being able to go to their rooms, not being able to eat with them, that was tough on me.”

As the tour slowly returns to full-capacity events with no restrictions, it’s looking ahead to the event that serves as the finish line and probably the biggest party of the year. Inverness is set to host the Solheim Cup matches against Europe over Labor Day weekend. Kang played Inverness on Tuesday, and she heard all about where the grandstands are being built. The planned crowds will be immense.

“That’s going to be awesome,” Kang said.

The post In return to Ohio, LPGA players reflect on COVID-19’s effect on their lives and careers appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By John Strege
Sophia Popov, with her stunning victory in the AIG Women’s British Open last summer, conceivably might have considered it tainted with a broad brush of rancor directed at the LPGA. Condemnation of the tour in the aftermath was swift and unsparing.

The general tenor of the reaction was summed up succinctly by this headline to a column in the Guardian: “Sophia Popov snub is as extraordinary as it is shameful for women’s golf.”

The hostility was unleashed by the LPGA’s decision not to deviate from protocol that granted nonmembers (of which Popov was one at the time) who won a major championship only a two-year tour exemption rather than the five years given to members. The tour also declined to grant Popov an exemption into the 2020 ANA Inspiration that had been postponed from March to September, claiming the field was set and that Popov’s ANA exemption technically didn’t begin until 2021.

Yet the 28-year-old German native declined to allow it to taint one of the best golf stories of 2020, a woman ranked 304th in the world, winning a major championship, the pivotal point of a career that finally found some traction.

Popov learned within minutes after winning at Royal Troon of the strident rules surrounding her victory, “which was fine,” she said. “I was a little bit bummed. But I didn’t really care about anything at that moment. I just wanted to celebrate and to go home and celebrate with my family. I didn’t really want those things to be a downer. I didn’t even think about that until a couple days later.”

The celebrations went on unfettered, and Popov finally will get her day in the desert sun. She makes her ANA Inspiration debut on the Dinah Shore Tournament Course at Mission Hills in Rancho Mirage, Calif., this coming week.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” Popov said via telephone recently from her home in Fountain Hills, Ariz. “I’m excited to see the course and condition. I think the last time I played the course was in Q [qualifying] school in 2014.”

Richard Heathcote/R&A
A late qualifier for the major championship, Popov was emotional in the wake of her first career LPGA win.

Popov also called it “a fun major to watch,” which she has done onsite, when it was still called the Kraft Nabisco Championship. She, too, was part of its television audience in September, and it convinced her that had she been given a choice of playing it then or in April, she would have chosen the latter. “I think that made that part easier for me.”

So did the $675,000 that turned up in her bank account for winning the British Open. “At first I’m thinking, ‘Gosh, illegal activity?’ she told CNN. “But then I saw it sit there, and I go, ‘Well, this is what you have worked for for six years. This is not a paycheck for one week of playing. This is for all the work you put in since you graduated college, and even before then.’”

They were six lean years that were unforeseen given her college success at the University of Southern California, with five individual victories and a national team championship in 2013. She earned LPGA membership in 2015, but made only $34,626 in 19 starts over the next five years and lost her tour card. She played full time on the Symetra Tour in 2016 and 2017 with modest success that had not transferred to the LPGA.

She had two options: Keep grinding or quit, and she considered both.

“I never fully lost hope,” she said. “But I was definitely on the verge of quitting the game. There are moments in every professional golfer putting themselves in my shoes. Some weeks nothing is happening or you’re missing cuts by one every single time. There were probably five or six heartbreaking moments over the last six years that put things in perspective, whether you want to put yourself through the mental battle every week. Deep down I knew I had the ability and I loved the game.”

Perseverance is mandatory for those hoping to survive in a fickle game that promises nothing, and for Popov it sustained her. Two weeks before the Women’s British Open, she played in the Marathon LPGA Classic and tied for ninth to earn one of the 10 exemptions accorded those not already qualified to play at Royal Troon. A week prior to that, she caddied for Anne van Dam in the LPGA’s first tournament back after the COVID-19 hiatus.

Holding both U.S. and German citizenship, Popov returned to Europe without expectations beyond playing well for a second straight event.

“Essentially, every time you tee up you’re hoping to win the tournament,” she said. “But I saw it as a bonus week, to go out and have fun, to enjoy links golf, to play the best I can. Halfway through the tournament, my game was in really good shape. The weather was so bad the first few days, I was trying to survive more or less. But it definitely helps to go out there seeing it as the bonus week it was. You go out and if you play well, great. If not, it doesn’t really change anything.”

Matthew Lewis/R&A
Popov pours a celebratory drink into the trophy following victory at the AIG Women’s Open.

Popov entered the weekend tied for second, then shot 67-68 and won by two, followed for a week or so by the ensuing controversy, including a statement LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan gave five days later explaining himself.

“Everything he says makes sense,” Popov said. “I tried to emotionally detach myself from the situation, because in the end I have to realize that rules are rules. It was a very tough position for him to be in. What is he supposed to do? What would you do if you were him?”

After another nonmember, A Lim Kim, won the U.S. Women’s Open in December and faced the same situation as Popov, the LPGA announced in February that it was amending its rules moving forward, extending the five-year exemption to nonmembers as well

Even the high road has potholes, and for Popov, one of them was the fact that she had previously been a member of the LPGA and Symetra tours. “I almost spent about $50,000 in entry fees and I was considered a nonmember. That was hard for me to take.”

But the euphoria from her victory that helped mitigate any ill will hasn’t entirely waned in the ensuing months.

“The trophy is sitting on the kitchen counter, so I have an opportunity to look at it every day at home,” she said, its luster the same as the day she was handed it.

Untarnished.

The post Sophia Popov travels the high road en route to her ANA Inspiration debut appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
The reigning major winners in men’s golf—Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Collin Morikawa and Shane Lowry—are fine lads. However it’s hard to envision these fellas in the role that one of their female counterparts is taking on this week.

That would be Sophia Popov, whose out-of-nowhere win at the AIG Women’s British Open last year put Carl Spackler’s Cinderella story to shame. Popov, you may remember, had served as a caddie for friend Anne van Dam when the LPGA resumed its season last summer at the Drive On Championship. The following week Popov, a Symetra Tour player, got into the Marathon Classic and finished T-9 to gain entry into the Open at Royal Troon, where she ultimately shocked the world.

But lest you think that Popov’s breakthrough put an end to her caddie days, think again.

Popov’s caddie, boyfriend Max Mehles, is a fledgling professional golfer who is competing at one of the Mackenzie Tour qualifying tournaments this week. Given the importance of these events, Mehles needs someone on the bag he trusts. Which is why Mehles is turning to a familiar face:

Granted, the LPGA is off until the end of March, so technically Popov was free. That said, winning a major is supposed to bestow certain perks, and we’re guessing Popov thought one of those perks was never putting on another caddie bib.

To be fair Popov actually credited the caddie gig in her performance at Troon. “I did realize when I caddied for her, there are certain things about my game where I see similarities and course strategy-wise,” Popov said. “I think that helped me a lot. Because the next week, I thought about the course as a little bit more from a caddie perspective. I said, What is the smart decision to make here? You know, I’m someone who tends to be very aggressive. I go at pins. But do you have to be? No, not really. You can give yourself a lot of chances just with safer shots going for the middle of the green, and so definitely that helped me a lot.” So there’s a chance Popov gains further insight with her latest caddie venture.

But the main takeaway? People do the damndest things for the ones they love.

The post Why a major winner is caddying at Canadian Q-School this week appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

All reasonable suggestions and perfect jumping-off points for other end-of-year lists. But sports are about people. So for this list, we’re going to re-live this most strange year through people’s words. From Torrey Pines to Augusta, from Kobe to Bryson to DJ to some more Bryson, here are 18 quotes that defined the wild journey that was golf in 2020.

• • •

“I don’t know if his genetics ever make him look good to be honest. That body issue—he didn’t have any abs. I got some abs.” —Bryson DeChambeau, Jan. 15

This came during one of DeChambeau’s late-night Twitch streams and it set off another back-and-forth in the ever-simmering feud between the noted golf nerd and Brooks Koepka, noted golf cool guy. Bryson was asked about his ongoing body transformation in comparison with Koepka, who had just posed nude for the ESPN body issue. Clearly, DeChambeau wasn’t impressed. Koepka, not the type to look past a slight, fired back by posting a picture of his four major-championship trophies with the caption “2 short of a 6 pack.” I mean, how else did Bryson think this would end?

You were right @b_dechambeau I am 2 short of a 6 pack! pic.twitter.com/aCJ1jimId6

— Brooks Koepka (@BKoepka) January 16, 2020

• • •

“He shot free throws with a torn Achilles. It’s hard to imagine he could have the sniffles, let alone have something like this happen.” —Max Homa, Jan. 26

NBA icon Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash during the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open, which led to a bizarre scene in which the golf tournament felt secondary. Most players—including Tiger Woods—found out after their rounds, and many were visibly shaken at the tragic news. Chief among them was Homa, a Southern California native and a diehard Lakers and Kobe fan. Justin Thomas, Matthew Wolff and Tony Finau were among a number of players who paid tribute to Bryant at the following week’s Waste Management Phoenix Open.

• • •

“I’m probably the only one who’s not playing. Same number as the sanitizers in the clubhouse, locker room and dining.” —C.T. Pan, March 12

In a since-deleted tweet, Pan explained his reasoning for withdrawing from the Players Championship prior to the first round. This marked the first real encroachment of COVID-19 on the PGA Tour; there was sparse talk of it the week prior at Bay Hill, but worries mounted as the Players practice rounds wore on and other sports, notably the NBA, put their seasons on hiatus. Pan was the only golfer to withdraw over safety concerns, but by the time Thursday’s opening round was underway, it was unclear whether the tournament would make it to Sunday. At noon on Thursday, just as Hideki Matsuyama was polishing off perhaps the most under-the-radar 63 in golf history, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan announced that the Players and all events through the Valero Texas Open would be played without fans. Ten hours later a different announcement came.

RELATED: Counting down the top 25 Newsmakers of 2020

• • •

“We’re obviously incredibly disappointed to suspend the PGA Tour season for our players, and our fans.”     —Jay Monahan, March 13

Monahan was speaking at a press conference on Friday, but the brutal news dropped on Thursday night: that all events up through Valero Texas Open had been cancelled. That same Friday, Augusta National announced that the Masters would not be played in April. In the span of 24 hours, the PGA Tour had gone from all systems normal to a full-on cancellation through mid-April. And that, as we now know, was just the beginning.

Cliff Hawkins

• • •

“Billy, JT, Charley, whoever else wants to do this Peloton thing while we’re in quarantine, or social isolation or whatever you want to call it … I beat you again.” —Rory McIlroy, March 21

The quarantine period saw a number of PGA Tour players satisfy their appetite for competition with … cycling? Interactive Peloton rides became the new anti-boredom cure, with Rory McIlroy emerging as the leader of the spinning crew. Golfers organized live rides against each other as well as fundraising rides for different philanthropic causes.

• • •

“The R&A has decided to cancel The Open in 2020 due to the current COVID-19 pandemic.” —Joint statement Augusta National, PGA Tour, R&A, USGA, LPGA, European Tour, April 6

If there’s one positive that came from the COVID-19 hiatus, it’s increased cooperation between golf’s power players. On what was supposed to be the Monday of Masters week, six governing bodies released a joint statement outlining a best-possible schedule for the rest of 2020. Some highlights, which seemed to many like they were a little unrealistic at the time: the Masters moving to November; the ANA Inspiration moving to September; the U.S. Women’s Open moving to December; the U.S. Open moving to September; and the cancellation of the Open Championship for the first time since World War II. In hindsight, the best-possible schedule became the actual schedule.

• • •

“Yeah, it’s going to be a tough financial year. There’s no way around it. And it’s certainly not going to be any better on the Ladies European Tour or the Symetra Tour, two tours that we obviously, I think, without giving away any secrets, that we help subsidize and will certainly subsidize more in 2020 than we thought when we walked into the year.” —Mike Whan, May 1

The LPGA commissioner painted an honest and sobering picture of COVID hiatus’ impact on the women’s game. In contrast to the cash-rich PGA Tour, the shutdown put women’s professional game in a precarious position. Whan’s forthright and compassionate brand of leadership has been lauded across the sports world as a model for how a commissioner should behave, and he successfully guided the women’s game through an unexpectedly difficult year. The LPGA Tour returned to play on July 31 at the LPGA Drive On Championship.

• • •

“Want me to use one of my U.S. Open medals? … I should have three of them that you can borrow” —Tiger Woods, May 24

This was one of many good-natured jabs from The Match 2: Champions for Charity, Tiger tweaking Phil Mickelson for his close calls at the major. The Match 2 saw Woods and Peyton Manning take down Mickelson and Tom Brady in a highly entertaining made-for-TV match at Woods’ home track, Medalist Golf Club in Florida. This was actually the second such exhibition during the PGA Tour hiatus, as a quartet of TaylorMade stars faced off in a skins match at Seminole the week before. And it wasn’t the last—Manning and Mickelson were joined by Charles Barkley and Stephen Curry for The Match III in Arizona over Thanksgiving weekend. 2020, among other things, shall be known as the year that golf exhibitions made a comeback.

Mike Ehrmann

• • •

“I pray alongside them for George Floyd and his family. And I also pray for our unity. We’re strong. We can go beyond the trap of one-dimensional thinking. Once we do, our eyes will see the righteous, our hearts will feel the love, and we’ll have done more to honour all those subjected to evil and its vile nature.” —Harold Varner III, June 2

The killing of George Floyd by police officers sparked outrage across the globe, and while our sport is not typically at the forefront of social change, the golf world used the moment to do some honest reckoning with itself. As one of very few black players on the PGA Tour, Varner suddenly emerged as an important voice in a game whose history is rife with exclusion. The PGA Tour held a moment of silence during its first tournament after the hiatus, the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial, at 8:46 a.m.—a reference to the eight minutes and 40 seconds that an officer pinned his knee into Floyd’s throat before he died. In the months since, the tour outlined a plan to combat racial injustice, Augusta National announced it would fully fund a women’s golf program at a historically black college, and The Match 3 raised more than $5 million for historically black colleges and universities.

• • •

“I think there’s a lot of bunkers that are around, like, 290, so hopefully I’ll be able to clear those and take those out of play. So, sorry, Mr. Ross, but, you know, it is what it is.” —Bryson DeChambeau, June 30

As far as actual golf storylines, DeChambeau’s bulk-up dominated discourse virtually all summer. He showed up to Colonial some 30-odd pounds heavier than he had been just three months earlier, a hard-to-believe transformation. A late bogey cost him a spot in a playoff, but it became clear that this was no side-show. He finished T-8 and T-6 in his next two starts, then showed up to the Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Golf Club, a 1910s-era Donald Ross design that proved no match at all for his thunderous power—he shot 23 under and won by three. The above quote, while undoubtedly humorous, was also rather poignant, underscoring how a player hitting the ball 350-plus yards can nullify so many great architectural challenges of classic golf courses.

• • •

“It’s pretty surreal to think it’s happened this quickly. How many people get to achieve a lifelong dream in their mid-20s?” —Jon Rahm, July 19

Rahm became just the second Spaniard, joining his hero Seve Ballesteros, to become the World’s No. 1 golfer. It happened after a gritty victory at the Memorial, where he tamed a fiery Muirfield Village setup for what looked like a five-shot victory … until the signature moment of the week, his chip-in for birdie on 16, became a chip-in for bogey after a zoomed-in camera showed his wedge causing the ball to move ever so slightly as he addressed it. Good thing margin of victory doesn’t matter on the PGA Tour, or the World Rankings, so the three-shot win was more than enough to see the 24-year-old summit the sport.

Andy Lyons

• • •

“I like my chances—when I’ve been in this position before, I’ve capitalized. I don’t know, he’s only won one.” — Brooks Koepka, Aug. 8

Never one to hide his feelings, Koepka raised some eyebrows with this not-so-subtle dig at his former workout buddy, Dustin Johnson. DJ held the 54-hole lead at the first post-COVID major, the PGA Championship at Harding Park, and Koepka was lurking just two behind when he spoke in his post-round presser on Saturday. He wasn’t wrong, either—Johnson had held three 54-hole leads in majors and converted zero of them, while Koepka had previously had no such problems closing the deal in majors. The controversial comments drew a stark rebuke from Rory McIlroy as well as plenty of golf fans, especially when Koepka shot four over on Sunday to finish T-29. And yet, Johnson’s two-under 68 was also not enough to take home the Wanamaker.

• • •

“I feel very comfortable in this spot. When I woke up today, I was like, this is meant to be. This is where I feel very comfortable. This is where I want to be, and I’m not scared from it.” —Collin Morikawa, Aug. 9.

Morikawa delivered a final round for the ages to win his first major, shooting a bogey-free 64 to leapfrog Johnson and join Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy as the only four players to win the PGA Championship before turning 24. It was the third victory of Morikawa’s career, which began only 14 months prior to his first major championship.

• • •

“I almost quit playing last year—thank God I didn’t.” —Sophia Popov, Aug. 23

The biggest upset of the year came at the AIG Women’s British Open at Royal Troon. That’s where the 27-year-old German, No. 304 in the Rolex Rankings, shot a final-round 68 for an unlikely two-shot victory. Popov had trudged through the golf wilderness, struggling both with confidence and health for the past six years—including a bout with Lyme disease—and nearly gave up the game in 2019. It’s a very, very good thing she didn’t.

Richard Heathcote/R&A

RELATED: The best things for golfers to come out of the pandemic

• • •

“It’s not a skill to hit the ball a long way in my opinion. I could put on 40 pounds. I could go and see a bio-mechanist and I could gain 40 yards; that’s actually a fact. I could put another two inches on my driver. I could gain that, but the skill in my opinion is to hit the ball straight. That’s the skill, he’s just taking the skill out of it in my opinion.” —Matthew Fitzpatrick, Oct. 11

The Bryson-distance talk did not cease after his torrid summer that peaked with a six-shot U.S. Open victory, and Matthew Fitzpatrick re-fueled it with these comments at the BMW PGA Championship in England. Not a long hitter himself, Fitzpatrick struck some with his comments as offering the bitter lamentations of a jealous player, but there also were plenty who agreed with his assertion that the game is trending in the wrong direction. DeChambeau, to his credit, took the comments in stride, though he did offer this biting response: “Hey, man I would love to help out.”

Andrew Redington

• • •

“I’m looking at it as a par 67 for me because I can reach all the par 5s in two, no problem. If the conditions stay the way they are, that’s what I feel like par is for me.” —Bryson DeChambeau, Nov. 10

All eyes were always going to be on Bryson at the Masters. He had just bludgeoned the U.S. Openiest U.S Open venue into submission, and he had taken a month off to test a 48-inch driver, and he posted evidence of a 400-yard drive to social media. But he drew even more attention on himself with this comment in the leadup, suggesting Augusta’s four par 5s are par 4s in his head, and the par-4 third is essentially a par 3 because he can drive it so easily. This time, the golf gods punched back—DeChambeau made the cut on the number and was never a factor in finishing T-34. It was not, however, a completely drama-free week …

• • •

“So you’re saying if we can’t find it, it’s a lost ball?” —Bryson DeChambeau, Nov. 13

During the second round of the Masters, DeChambeau took out driver on the third and hit a high hook that found the second cut, which was noticeably longer than usual at this November Masters. The ball was never found, much to the disbelief of DeChambeau, who tried to use every rule in the book to his advantage: Standing water? Nope. Ground under repair? Nope. For non-Bryson fans, there was certainly a hint of gleeful schadenfreude in watching him struggle on the course so many believed he would conquer.

• • •

“I’m sorry. I can’t even talk. I’ve never had this much trouble gathering myself.’’ —Dustin Johnson, Nov. 15

This Masters was so distinctly unusual—in November, and without fans—but through 54 holes, the proceedings had followed a familiar script: Dustin Johnson with the lead in a major heading into the final round. It was the fifth time DJ had been in that position, and he’d gone 0-for-4. This time, however, would be different, even if his original four-shot lead dwindled to one at one point early in Sunday’s round. DJ responded with steady play as the afternoon wore on and cruised to a five-shot victory while setting the 72-hole Masters scoring record. In his post-round interview with Amanda Balionis, the famously stoic Johnson let his guard down, struggling to get a word out as he choked back tears. Clearly, this meant everything to a man who is often portrayed as emotionless and apathetic, and it was wonderful to see. In a year that went so awry, Johnson’s victory stood out as a rare feel-good moment and the culmination of a four-month stretch of dominant golf.

The post The long, strange, surreal year in golf, summed up in 18 quotes appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
Normally when gathering around the table this time of year to give thanks, we keep the list short. Not that we’re ungrateful; it’s just that the potatoes are getting cold and we see Uncle Mark eyeing the turkey leg. This season, however, there’s no need to curtail the gratitude, and that includes around the table of this sport we love so, so much.

When compiling our list of golf thanks, we sought to avoid items like “the perfectly struck 7-iron” or “the dulcet tones of Jim Nantz.” Let’s be honest, they border on the mawkish, and we wanted to focus on things specific to this year unlike any other. As you’ll see, this list does plenty of gazing into the rearview mirror. But 2020 has taught us to appreciate the victories in all their forms. Big and small, silly and solemn, transitory and forever. And if some are overly sentimental, well, the world could use a bit of that right now.

Which is why we’re thankful for:

Players, caddies, volunteers, tournament directors, PGA Tour officials and anyone else involved in the season’s tightrope walk from Fort Worth in June to now. If that sounds like embellishment, well, you’re clearly not paying attention to college football.

Tom Brady. He was exposed as a sandbagger, received an ungodly amount of schadenfreude during a hit-n-giggle and ripped his pants in the one nanosecond where things weren’t going wrong. Yet his hole-out was the first “Oh-My-Did-You-See-That?!?!!” sports moment since the world shut down in March.

Maintenance crews. Busting their tails, often for little money, so we can enjoy a bit of heaven.

The Ryder Cup being postponed. Without galleries, the biennial match would have felt like a member-guest. Credit the players—most notably Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka—for giving voice to the fans. Credit the PGA of America for listening.

Harold Varner III. At a juncture where the lines of sport and society are blurred, with his words and resolve and a performance that can only be measured against the pain and uncertainty and fear we all face, HV3 showed us the best that golf can be.

Destination courses. Planning future itineraries has been as a mnemonic device that a sense of normalcy, eventually, will return.

Short courses. Providing the occasional nudge that, oh yeah, this is supposed to be fun.

Hometown courses. They are not Bandon or Pinehurst or Pebble. Their fairways are rough, with greens that aren’t, and hitting the lottery is easier than snagging an early weekend tee time. But they are there, and it took a lockdown for us to finally see them for what they are instead of what they are not.

Matthew Lewis/R&A

Sophia Popov. Reminding us the best Cinderella stories have nothing to do with Carl Spackler.

Majors going to munis. For demonstrating championship golf resides beyond ivy walls and brass gates, yes. But, too, for the unintended comedy of players and broadcasters marveling, “It’s so hard to play out of these Harding Park bunkers, there’s no sand!” while every public course player in America mumbled, “Yeah, no kidding.”

The Masters. Its postponement felt like winter. Its return was water in the desert.

Bryson DeChambeau. There is nothing standard about this cat in a sport whose players tend to be of the cookie-cutter variety. That can produce the astonishing (his odyssey from man into mountain for distance gains that beget the U.S. Open) and … uh, astonishing (fire ants?). No matter where he is on the spectrum in a given instance, it’s never short on entertainment and curiosity.

Bernhard Langer. The 63-year-old was last in the Masters field in driving distance, 60-something yards behind category leader DeChambeau. Langer finished at three under. DeChambeau, two under. Long live Bernhard Langer.

Buddies trips. Be they globetrotters or cross-country excursions or modified outings just down the street, for it’s not where you play but who you play with that truly matters.

Driving range attendants who don’t mind keeping the lights on an extra 15 minutes.

Golf debates. Maybe conversations about bifurcation and backstopping and broadcast complaints can get tedious and entrenched. Conversely, these disputes are (usually) civil and (mostly) come from a place of passion. Good luck finding that on other parts of the Internet.

The Great Wall of Dinah. Because sometimes there’s nothing wrong with a little chaos.

Jared Wolfe. This mini-tour journeyman grabbed two Korn Ferry Tour wins to lock up his first PGA Tour card at 32, showing us dreams don’t have expirations dates.

Camilo Villegas and Alex Goff. Models of grit in the face of unspeakable heartache.

Collin Morikawa, Matthew Wolff, Viktor Hovland. We were told they were the next big thing and that they would disrupt the game. Somehow, they’ve surpassed those expectations in 18 months.

Encouraged breakfast balls. As Euripides said, “Friends show their love in times of trouble, not in happiness.”

The Rory Runs. We should be used to McIlroy’s five-hole heaters. Instinctively, we know they will end. But the kinetic magic in those stretches, in which McIlroy makes anything seem possible, is a magnetism that never tires.

The perfectly struck 7-iron. If only for a moment, all seems right.

And finally, and most importantly, we’re thankful to all first responders and front-line workers. They risk their lives so we can go on living ours.

The post 24 things we’re thankful for this Thanksgiving appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Keely Levins
Let’s begin with a statement we can all agree on: Winning a major championship is harder than winning a regular tour event. Presumably, it requires more experience to win a major since the more experience you have, the more likely you’ll be able to handle the nerves and pressure as you play those final holes coming in. The experience, then, of winning a time or two on tour would not only be helpful, but seemingly necessary to getting that first major title. Right?

But here’s the catch: When you look at the results of the majors for the last five years on the LPGA Tour, suddenly that assumption falls to pieces. Eight times since 2015, a golfer who won a major championship was also winning her first LPGA Tour title of any kind. By comparison, just one male golfer in that same period made a major his first career PGA Tour win, that being Danny Willett at the 2016 Masters (although Willett had won four European Tour titles at that point). It’s only natural then to wonder if it will happen again this week as when the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship is held at venerable Aronimink Golf Club outside Philadelphia.

The most recent first-time major/LPGA winner was arguably one of the most surprising, seeing that she wasn’t even a member of the LPGA Tour at the time of her win. In August, Germany’s Sophia Popov showed no nerves in taking the title at the Women’s British Open. With her victory, she joined the list of InGee Chun (2015 U.S. Women’s Open), Danielle Kang (2017 KPMG Women’s PGA), Sung Hyun Park (2017 U.S. Women’s Open), Pernilla Lindberg (2018 ANA Inspiration), Georgia Hall (2018 Women’s British Open), Hinako Shibuno (2019 Women’s British Open) and Hannah Green (2019 KPMG Women’s PGA).

So how can this be happening so often? One explanation for why first-time winners are able to succeed on the major stage could be because though these players haven’t won yet on the LPGA Tour, they’ve still been in high-pressure situations at some point in the competitive golf careers, and thus have gained that needed experience. They’re prepared. Maria Fassi, who’s in her second year on tour and is still looking for her first win, has already had big-tournament experiences, like being in the final pairing at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship. Having played a tournament on one of the most famous golf courses in the world, in front of thousands of fans, she’s able to simplify and compartmentalize the pressures of being at a major in ways young tour pros of the past might not have been capable of.

“It’s definitely different,” Fassi said of playing majors, “but it’s a golf tournament at the end of the day. Whether it’s to win a major or win against your friends back home, it’s just another golf shot. Of course, that’s easier said than done. But I feel like that’s how we have to approach the week.”

Jan Kruger
Sophia Popov poses with the trophy after her surprise victory at the AIG Women’s British Open in August.

Another thought on why first-timers have had success in the LPGA’s big five events is that major weeks can be more stressful for established tour winners.

“Sometimes the top players put a lot of pressure on themselves, and they’re expected to do well,” said Nelly Korda, 20, the No. 2 ranked female in the world and a three-time LPGA winner seeking her first major. “I’m not sure, but all [who have won majors as first-time winners] have played great golf that week. And that’s what it takes.”

While the top players are saddled with the added pressure of being expected to win, players who haven’t won yet can play free of extra stress and obligations during major weeks. It puts them, potentially, in the right position to play their best golf.

“I think maybe somebody who hasn’t had a win out here walks into a major maybe with less expectation. We’re not the favourites, not the top picks. So maybe that has something to do it,” Fassi says. “I think for first-time winners, they kind of go one shot at a time. They kind of bump into the trophy, if that makes sense. Hopefully I can bump into that big trophy on Sunday.”

Brooke Henderson, whose 2017 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship win was her second win on tour, believes another explanation is that players sometimes just get on a roll during a major before realizing what’s happening. The players get a few breaks, step up their own games and start playing well enough that it doesn’t matter if they’re won anything before.

“I feel like when you get into that spot, you’re just making everything and feeling great,” Henderson said. “That’s definitely what happened for me in 2017. Similar people have broken through like that on the LPGA Tour.”

Maybe, above all else, the players who haven’t won yet on tour are more fearless and more confident than ever. Their lack of winning experience doesn’t deter them from thinking that any week, even the majors, could be theirs.

“I believe in myself more than anybody else out here,” Fassi said. “I haven’t lifted a trophy out here yet, but I know I have what it takes to win.”

The post Will there be another player who makes a major her first win on the LPGA Tour? appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan acknowledged the social media uproar that included Tommy Fleetwood calling it “stupid” and Ian Poulter “absolutely embarrassing to the LPGA and to the game of golf.”

But Whan stood by the decisions in a video statement he made at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship on Friday afternoon.

“As it relates to the 2020 ANA Inspiration, we set that field back in March right before we thought we were going to play,” he said. “We did that for one reason. We wanted to make sure that anyone who has qualified to play in this year’s ANA Inspiration was set. You couldn’t play your way out of it now after restarts and COVID stops. Anything that happens after we set that field, we’ll address in future years. I’m pretty sure that’s the same as the Masters. They set their field back in March, April, and now if you win a tournament on the PGA Tour you’re qualifying for the 2021 Masters, not the November 2020 Masters.”

LPGA members, meanwhile, are given a five-year exemption by winning a major championship. Popov, a member of the Symetra Tour, had not yet earned LPGA membership when she won the Women’s Open at Royal Troon last Sunday.

“With regards to two years [exemption] versus five years, I keep getting these texts and emails saying, ‘this has never happened before, Mike. Come on. You’re smarter than this,’” Whan said.

He then noted that during his tenure as commissioner a non-member has won a major on three other occasions, most recently in the 2019 AIG Women’s Open, won by Hinako Shibuno.

“You may not like the regulation,” Whan said. “I’m going to think about that in the off season when we really assess all of our regulations. What I won’t do is change regulations in the middle of the season. What I won’t do is change the regulation on the Monday after an emotional win.

“I will look at that regulation long term because I think that’s a fair question. But I’m not going to do that in the middle of the year. I’m not going to do that on the Monday after. That’s not the right way to run a sport. And quite frankly not the fairest way to treat your athletes. When they tee it up on Monday they ought to know what those wins earn.”

A message from @LPGACommish Mike Whan pic.twitter.com/dthJSzq0jX

— LPGA (@LPGA) August 28, 2020

Whan said he is a Popov fan, that he in fact “cried when she won.” It did not influence his decisions, however.

“I hope this doesn’t take away for all of us for what Sophia deserves, which is an incredible win and an incredible opportunity she’s earned,” he said. “And I’m quite certain that Sophia, like others that have come before, will turn that opportunity into a long-term career.”

The post LPGA stands by controversial decisions not to alter regulations to accommodate Sophia Popov appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Keely Levins
Sophia Popov was expected to make a massive leap in the Rolex Women’s World Rankings, but the biggest jump in the history? Just add that to accolades that go with Popov’s stunning win at the AIG Women’s British Open.

The 27-year-old German, who didn’t have LPGA status, was ranked No. 304 prior to starting play at Royal Troon. But her two-shot triumph allowed her to climb up to No. 24, leaping 280 spots with her one magical tournament.

RELATED: Sophia Popov overcomes long battle with Lyme disease and losing her tour card to win AIG Women’s British Open

Prior to Popov’s accomplishment, the biggest jump in rankings happened in 2007. That March, Meaghan Francella won the LPGA Tour’s MasterCard Classic while ranked No. 330 in the world. With the victory, Francella’s lone LPGA title, she moved to No. 77. A huge, 253-spot move, but not as big as Popov’s.

Behind Francella, Jessica Korda won the 2012 ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open while ranked No. 285 and moved 203 spots to No. 82.

The lowest ranked player to win a major prior to Popov was Anna Nordqvist, who won the 2009 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship when she was ranked No. 214. She climbed to No. 24 after that win (190 spots).

These numbers give even more context to the incredible, unlikely victory of the now former Symetra Tour player, her major win giving her full status on the LPGA Tour.

The post Sophia Popov officially makes the biggest one-week jump in the Rolex Women’s World Rankings history appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.